The question on everyone’s mind is who will be the next Luke Littler, and one Scottish teenage sensation has emerged as a possible candidate.
At 15 years old, Mitchell Rowley will become the youngest ever participant in the WDF World Darts Championship, which takes place this November. This is the record Littler held when he competed in 2022 and reached the final 16.
As well as his first appearance at Lakeside, Lawrie will also qualify for the JDC World Finals, which will take place during Littler’s PDC world title defense, and will also feature at Alexandra Palace.
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Watch Luke Littler’s immediate reaction to the World Darts Championship draw results as he prepares to take on Darius Rabanaskas.
Lowry broke Littler’s new record just a few weeks ago by winning the British Open, Welsh Open and Irish Classic at WDF at the age of 15 years and four days, becoming the youngest player to win three senior men’s titles.
Littler was 15 years, 5 months and 4 days old when he won his third WDF title, so Lowry beat his record by five months.
The teenager, who is aiming for the WDF title, will start his match against Tomoya Maruyama in the first round, where second seed Jason Brandon will be waiting.
For Littler, Lowry is clearly an exciting talent who continues to keep an eye on the record he’s been chasing.
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On Love The Darts, Abigail Davis and Chris Murphy discuss Luke Ritter’s rise to world number one and who could challenge him for the world championship.
“He’s a very, very good player at my young age, so obviously I’m thinking about his record winning the WDF Open,” Littler said.
“That’s another thing he surprised me with, he’s a very good player.
“It’s crazy, he has to wait so many years for the development tour.
“But for now, he has to wait, so he has to keep at it.
“But right now we have a lot of chances to win the tournament.”
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Luke Humphries says arch-rival Luke Littler is in his own league as the world’s number one and two darts players prepare for December’s World Championships.
So, what is Littler’s advice to Lowry? He believes he needs to take chances and just keep moving forward, making sure his game is at its best, in case he is given the opportunity to join the Development Tour at the age of 16.
“You just have to keep your head down. You still have to keep moving forward,” he added.
“When I was 14 or 15 years old, I was like, ‘Oh, I have one more year until I can do the Development Tour.’
“He’s definitely thinking the same way he’s been playing so far, so if he just keeps his head down, yeah, he’ll be on tour.”
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Paige Poling is making waves in the women’s game (Photo by Tamas Kovacs/Hungarian Darts Federation)
WDF also has the exciting Paige Poehling, the WDF Women’s World No. 1 at age 17 and only the second player in history to qualify for the Women’s and Women’s WDF World Championships.
The first was Sophie McKinlay, who also won last year and reached both finals.
If Pauling wins, she will become the youngest women’s world champion in history, surpassing the record set by Greaves in 2022 at 18 years, three months and one day.
Pauling will be 17 years, eight months, and 23 days old on the day of this year’s final.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match live and exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407 from December 10) from 11 December to 3 January. Stream darts and other top sports now.
